Nduhungirehe, the president of Burundi, says it is regrettable that Rwanda is planning an attack

The assertions made by Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye that Rwanda was preparing an attack on his nation were deemed “unfortunate” by Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe.

The assertions were made when the “military and intelligence authorities of the two countries are currently in discussion,” the minister added, even reaching a consensus on the necessity of “a military and verbal de-escalation.”

Nduhungirehe stated a little more than a week ago that the two nations were holding discussions to find “a common understanding” and reduce tensions brought on by the fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ndayishimiye told the BBC that he had “credible intelligence” that Rwanda was preparing an attack, but he did not back up his assertion.

“This statement by HE the President of Burundi is unfortunate, especially since the military and intelligence authorities of the two countries are currently in discussion and have even agreed on the need for a military and verbal de-escalation,” Nduhungirehe wrote in a post on X Tuesday.

“On the sidelines of the joint EAC-SADC ministerial meeting in Harare on March 17, 2025, I also spoke with my Burundian counterpart about this, and we were entirely in agreement on this matter.”

“While hoping for a little calm and serenity in official statements from the other side of the Akanyaru,” the minister continued, Rwanda would continue to uphold its commitment to peace with Burundi and in the Great Lakes area.

Relations between Rwanda and Burundi have recently deteriorated after Burundian soldiers joined a coalition of the Congolese armed forces that included Southern African troops, European mercenaries fighting the M23 rebels, and the FDLR, a terrorist militia based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that was established in the middle of the 2000s by the masterminds of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi.

The coalition was suspected of preparing an invasion against Rwanda.

When Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye accused Rwanda of orchestrating an attack in December 2023 by RED-Tabara, an armed group headquartered in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, bilateral ties deteriorated. Rwanda denied these claims. Burundi unilaterally closed its border with Rwanda at the beginning of last year.

The East African Community Regional Force (EACRF), a multinational force of troops from Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda, was sent to eastern DR Congo in November 2022 to aid in restoring peace and security during the height of a struggle between the Congolese army and M23 rebels.

In order to support a then-current political process that involved protecting people and enforcing peace agreements, the regional force was initially stationed in the North Kivu Province’s Masisi, Nyiragongo, and Rutshuru areas. There, it collaborated with the Congolese army.

The regional force’s operational mandate did not include fighting the M23, but Kinshasa wanted it to. Because Kinshasa relied on friends like Burundi, many SADC nations, Rwandan genocidaires, and European mercenaries to fight the rebels, the regional force was compelled to withdraw just over a year after it was sent to aid peace efforts for the country’s war-torn east.

Citing a combination of achievements and setbacks throughout its tenure in the unstable nation, EAC forces started leaving the country in early December 2023 and finished leaving Goma, the capital of DR Congo’s North Kivu Province, on December 21, 2023.

Although some Burundian troops left the nation at that time, many changed their uniforms, stayed in North Kivu Province, and began fighting alongside the Congolese army, FARDC, against M23 insurgents.

The issue would eventually become more complicated by the hundreds of additional Burundian troops that had previously been sent to South Kivu Province under a covert bilateral agreement.

President Paul Kagame denounced Burundian troops’ participation in the Kinshasa-M23 conflict in North Kivu Province in March of last year. He claimed to have cautioned Ndayishimiye against sending troops to fight alongside a coalition that included the FDLR, which is also charged with encouraging the persecution of Congolese Tutsi communities. Remaining members of the masterminds of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi established the FDLR, a terrorist organization located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the middle of the 2000s.

During a meeting with Burundi’s ambassadors on January 31, Nduhungirehe denied Ndayishimiye’s assertions that his nation’s army was sent to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to “fight foreign armed groups.”

Nduhungire He questioned why they did not strike the FDLR, a genocidal group, if such were the case.

“The FDNB was sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to “combat foreign armed groups,” so why did they not attack the FDLR, a foreign genocidal group?” the minister questioned.

Even worse, given their shared murderous ideology, why do Burundian forces work together with these same FDLR instead?

Nduhungirehe recalled that the Burundian contingent in the EACRF had “inherited,” in 2023, many localities in the Masisi territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that had previously been held by M23 rebels. The M23 rebels had also given up about 80% of their territory to the regional force under the terms of the ceasefire negotiated by the East African Community (EAC).

One of the villages in Masisi that M23 gave to the Burundian army was Nturo, which is primarily populated by Congolese Tutsis.

Extremist Wazalendo and Nyatura militias, along with FDLR members, assaulted the village between October 7–10, 2023, killing residents and setting their homes on fire.

A village head claimed that Burundian troops positioned atop a hill with a view of the community calmly watched the event for several hours without getting involved.

Following M23’s withdrawal, the genocidal militia attacked Nturo multiple times when the Burundian EAC troops were in charge, according to Harvard professor Bojana Coulibaly, who visited the village.

According to Coulibaly, “Every Nturo resident we spoke with concurred that on the day of the main attack, the Burundian EAC soldiers authorized the FDLR-Nyatura-Wazalendo.” One of the attackers verified this in a video. The Burundian EAC forces’ support of anti-Tutsi genocide ideology may help to explain their cooperation with the FDLR.

According to reports, starting in October 2023, Burundian forces used the expulsion of EACRF by Tshisekedi to launch a more aggressive military deployment from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) against M23 rebels and Congolese Tutsis.

In 2021, the FDLR, more than 10,000 Burundian soldiers, 1,600 European mercenaries, and South Africa-led SADC forces joined the Congolese government army alliance to fight the M23 insurgents.

M23 is currently a member of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), a broader rebel group that was established in December 2023. Kinshasa’s ceaseless targeting and murder of unarmed Banyamulenge civilians in Minembwe, Uvira, and the surrounding areas in South Kivu Province is still condemned by the AFC/M23 rebellion in eastern DR Congo, which has vowed to eradicate tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and genocide ideology, among other evils, that are pervasive throughout the large nation.

The Congolese army coalition’s mortars, Sukhoi fighter jets, and drones have recently targeted and destroyed communities in South Kivu Province that are home to unarmed Banyamulenge residents.